In a typical prior art telephone housing, the coin vault (or simply the "vault") is located in the lower part of the housing for storing a coin box which receives money from the coin escrow mechanism of the pay telephone. Existing housings tend to be of a standard size and configuration such that only a certain volume remains for use as the coin vault. Furthermore, known coin vaults typically are strengthened against vandalism and damage by various security measures. For example, it is very typical for vaults to have a front opening in which a removable door is locked. A rim runs around the opening and receives the removable door. Holes are formed in the rim for receiving removable locking bars which can be extended through the holes and locked in place to prevent the removable door from being removed or pried off by a vandal. To further strengthen this arrangement, a second rim or inner rim is positioned within the first (outer) rim such that when the locking bars are locked they extend through openings in the inner rim, then extend through openings in the sides of the removable door, then extend through the openings formed in the outer rim of the vault. This results in a very strong structure, which is very resistant to the removable door being pried off. An example of this arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,515. This is also shown in FIG. 1C of the present application.
One major disadvantage to the arrangement just described is that inner rim makes the opening of the vault that much smaller, thereby reducing the maximum volume of a coin box which can be inserted through the opening. Thus, it can be seen that a need yet remains in the art for a telephone housing with a large capacity vault, which at the same time provides good security against vandalism. It is to the provision of such a telephone housing that the present invention is primarily directed.